This Lot has arrived in the UK from overseas under Temporary Admission. Shippio Ltd must complete all post-sale customs clearance administration, for import or export, on behalf of the purchaser. A compulsory fee of £195 + VAT will be added to the buyer's invoice for this service. This Lot may not be collected from the auction venue by the purchaser or any third-party transporter until Shippio Ltd has confirmed that this Lot has cleared customs.

If this Lot is to remain in the UK, or is not exported within 90 days of the sale, Import VAT at 5% of the hammer price will be payable.

Inspired by the success of E Foster Salsbury's Motor Glide scooter, Cushman Motor Works launched its own Auto-Glide version in 1936. Founded in the early 1900s by cousins Clinton and Everett Cushman, the Lincoln, Nebraska firm had long been established as engine manufacturers, its products powering boats, farm machinery and lawnmowers among countless varied applications. Cushman's scooter came about quite by chance following aviator Colonel Roscoe Turner's demonstration of a Motor Glide at an air show in Lincoln in 1936. A local boy liked what he saw and fashioned his own crude scooter using a Cushman Husky lawnmower engine as power unit. By this time Cushman had been taken over by The Easy Manufacturing Company, whose owners, the Ammon family, got wind of the enterprising youngster's one-off and decided to have a go themselves. The result was the Auto-Glide and the start of an American legend. The Cushman scooter would evolve through countless incarnations over the years.

From dominating the North American scooter marketplace in the early 1950s, Cushman saw its position steadily decline in the face of foreign competition, and in 1961 the company became the official Vespa distributor in the USA. The arrival of Japanese manufacturers in force would drive the final nail into Cushman's coffin, and 'The Big Name in Little Wheels' ceased production early in 1965.

At time of cataloguing it had not been possible positively to identify this Cushman scooter, but the most likely candidate would appear to be the Model 52. Its power unit is Cushman's 4hp Husky engine. This Cushman was purchased from the Volo Antique Auto Museum of Volo, Illinois in November 1999. The Cushman is presented in restored condition but it should be noted that the engine does not turn over. Accompanying paperwork consists of copies of the 1999 purchase agreement and old State of Illinois Certificate of Title.

Following a period of inactivity, this motorcycle will require recommissioning and/or restoration to a greater or lesser extent before returning to the road and thus is sold strictly as viewed. Prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves with regard to this motorcycle's completeness, history, authenticity, originality and mechanical condition prior to bidding.
Key not required